The History of Lochee

Old Lochee Book 1911.

From "Lochee" - As it was and is - by Alexander Elliot - 1911

Chapter 2 LOCHEE AS IT WAS—DELINEATION.

As old Lochee and all that appertained to it has been obliterated, it may not be out of place therefore to describe it in detail, briefly. The Easter and Wester Locheye delineated in Winter's Chart never extended beyond a few cottar houses. Situated on the south side of the stream the main road was a considerable distance away. South Road at that time had not been opened, though the path to Denmiln skirted the ground not far off. Lochee proper, as has been explained, lay on the north bank. At the Ford of Tursor, near Myrekirk, a range of cottages, facing westward, flanked the burnside. One was licensed, and the usual drinking-trough for horses stood close to the east corner of the ford. The premises were trimly kept, and stabling was provided, the place being frequented by visitors from town and neighbourhood. The landlord who presided over the establishment about the beginning of the nineteenth century is described as a man of much force of character. Part of his premises consisted of an unusually large barn, and as halls for assemblages, public or private, were then practically unknown in country districts, he anticipated these useful meeting-places by letting it for festive gatherings.

Great and burly, he seems to have been a martinet in his way, and those who provoked his ire ran the risk of being soaked for their imprudence in the trough. Not far from the public-house a butcher had his shambles—generally pronounced "skemmels"—and his shop adjoined. From this point eastward there were several dwellings of a similar type. One rejoiced in the commonplace name of "Tile Raw," the roofs being covered with red tiles instead of thatch. Another was designated "Bogle Bee." What that term meant it is difficult to understand. Numerous pendicles with their fruit trees and gardens, and grassy parks, and pasture-ground for cows stretched from the burn northward to the road to Liff. Opposite south entrance to Camperdown policies a group of nine houses, known as the "Knowey," was in the proud possession of a grocery store, and otherwise it was a place of some consideration. But by far and away the most important centre was the large industrial establishment of the Cox family, the various workshops, bleachfields, and offices covering a large expanse. The dwelling-house is still extant, a few yards west of the farm of Mains of Camperdown. The premises were known far and wide as Locheyefield (see frontispiece). All along the eastern slopes there were other domiciles and weaving sheds. Near Buttar's Loan a manufactory of considerable proportions was owned by another member of the Cox family. Dr Cox, a leading medical man in Dundee in the sixties, was a son of the proprietor.

To meet sartorial requirements, a tailor and shoemaker, as their callings warranted, were no inconsequential members of the community; and, despite the claims of the Parish School of Denmiln, an opposition seminary entered into competition at Buttar's Loan. Quiet and unassuming, it was superintended by a lady, and the venture was known as a dame's school. Contiguous to the Loan there were two small crofts that rejoiced respectively in the Biblical names of Goshen and Canaan; and at Pitalpin Bridge a range of cottages went under the name of Zoar. The latter domiciles are still occupied as dwelling-houses, but the others were removed many years ago.

NEW LOCHEE IN THE MAKING—CHART OF 1831.

In 1818 the industry of old Lochee received a blow from which it never rallied. In that year a disastrous fire broke out in the establishment at Locheyefield. Warehouses, filled with goods, finished and unfinished, were destroyed, and boom yards, loom sheds, and a number of houses were consumed. Mr Cox, the proprietor, suffered severe loss, and dependent workpeople were sorely stricken. The staple trade in that year being at ebb made matters worse. Through the unfortunate incident mentioned, Lochee, to all intents and purposes, gradually succumbed, and a new community, bearing the same name and following a like industry, took root under changed conditions. After the fire Mr Cox did not attempt to restore his premises. As his lease of Locheyefield expired shortly thereafter, he transferred his establishment to a more convenient centre at Foggielea. An effort was made by some of the other manufacturers to retain the trade at west end. It proved futile. The doom of old Lochee was foreclosed. Bit by bit all that remained of the "thackraws," the bleaching yards, the loom sheds, and the homely gardens were eliminated, and the ploughshare now upturns the soil that had once been trod by busy feet.

During the past seventy or eighty years the expansion of Lochee has been on a par with Dundee, and the public and private enterprise that has marked the city has been replicated, though in a lesser degree, by its bustling suburb. In 1820 the population of the burgh was sparse, and represented in hundreds what is now reckoned by thousands. Lochee was isolated from Dundee by a long stretch of dreary road, flanked a great part of the way by open agricultural land. Dwellings were few and far between. Along old Coupar Angus Road, a part of which was afterwards known as Mid Street, and latterly renamed Lorne Street, the usual familiar type of cottar house dotted in straggling fashion. There were no striking objects, nothing to captivate the vision—only a quiet, unobtrusive, semi-rural scene. When Foggielea became a manufacturing centre, the people who had been employed at west end naturally migrated thitherward. A chart, dated 1831, in the Burgh Chambers, shows new Lochee in the making. The ground plan, as delineated on the chart, is as chequered as a draughtboard. Liff Road on north side contained a single dwelling, and only a few flanked the other side. South Road was equally open, but both sides of the thoroughfare now known as Bank Street were well provided with houses such as they were. At the tramway terminus at Liff Road the cars ring the changes all day long in the vicinity of what was once the site of a roadside tavern. A pretty corner it was, set off with an affluence of leafy foliage.

Liff Road School absorbs the garden, and the back playground covers the ground where the tavern stood. On the east side of the terminus there was a range of small one-storey cottages, which were removed to make way for the entrance to West U.F. Church Manse. It is unnecessary to enter into a detailed description of the aspect of Lochee at this period, there being a sameness of feature throughout; but it may not be inappropriate at this point to advert to one or two of the most notable structures. The rising ground now dominated by West U.F. Church contained one or two houses of the better type.

One of these was occupied as a summer residence by Mr Robert Stephen Rintoul, one of the earliest and most capable editors of the Dundee Advertiser and the founder of the Spectator. It was then a common practice on the part of many well-to-do Dundee residenters either to own or lease a cottage all the year round in Lochee. Not far off, in after years, on the other side of the street, a favourite hostel was a popular rendevous. It was colloquially known as the "Brewer's," and that personage owned a brewseat in an adjoining lane. Here the worthies were wont to meet at eventide, and in their own douce, canny way worshipped the rosy. divinity, as was the custom of others of kindred tastes before their time.

It is well-known that Snuff and Twopenny Clubs then abounded in Scotland. In all towns and villages they flourished, and had done so for a long period, their praises being sung by more than one poet. A club of this kind foregathered at the "Brewer's" weekly, and did so for wellnigh forty years. It, however, met the fate of all old-fashioned social coteries. As time went by the brotherhood, one by one, were received into the great garner of Mother Earth. Those who were left behind continued to fulfil the conditions of good-fellowship until they tapered down to two. These ancient cronies, reminiscent of their departed friends and the jovial nights they had spent together, honoured their memories by meeting regularly at the old place, and quaffed the familiar beverage, until called in due course to join their confreres in the Silent Land. All along High Street, from point to point, with the exception of Weavers' Hall, old U.P. Church (St Luke's), Chapel of Ease (Lochee Parish), a manufactory, and a brewseat near Burnside Street, there were few edifices, and none were of any note. Near the line of old Coupar Angus Road, and close to Marshall Street, there lived and died, in an obscure cottage which formed part of a small range known as Bogie Ha', Annie Campbell, a poetess of considerable attainments, whose merits never received that recognition they well deserved. In the same locality, behind Scott's Angle, John Deans, the real factory boy of James Myles's brochure of that name, in whose life there was a strange admixture of tragic romance, resided with a deserted, poverty-stricken mother.

Opposite the angle stood one of the first houses, if not the first, built on the line of the main thoroughfare after it was opened. Erected in 1796 by an indweller of Dryburgh Feus (old Pitalpie Village, near Beech Strip, Camperdown), it was occupied as an ordinary dwelling-house, and fitted with the usual set of hand-loom appliances, its height being one storey. As traffic developed over the new road the cottage was converted into a tavern, and a few years thereafter another storey and outhouses were added. It was a favourite resort for many years, and after it was closed it was used for various purposes. Subsequently it formed part of a gift to the town by Mr Thomas H. Cox, who had become proprietor. The Branch Library has since been erected on the ground covered by these premises. From this point till Logie Feus were reached, if we except one or two in the vicinity of Gray's Lane, there was an entire absence of buildings of any kind, and those in the Feus were sparse. Thereafter the ground all the way to Polepark is defined on the chart as open fields.

CONDITION OF NEW ROAD TO LOCHEE.

After the trunk road to Coupar Angus had been opened, for many years it was allowed to lie in an unfinished state, and 110 attempt seems to have been made to adapt it to meet the requirements of transit. The old-fashioned pack-horse drivers discarded the old avenue to and from the town, as they found the new route more convenient. Carriers and owners of caravans—a light van for carriage purposes—frequented the road. Drovers in particular appreciated its ample width because of the scope it afforded their charges. Many complaints as to its condition were made to the authorities, to which no heed was paid, with the result that in wet weather the thoroughfare became little else than a quagmire. It was serrated with deep ruts throughout, and muddy pools were numerous over its surface. This was notably the case at the corner of Burnside Street and High Street, where an unsightly gathering of stagnant water went under the name of "The Bay." Sidewalks were constructed, but these, like the road, received scant attention. In 1820 Lochee Burn, which had its fountainhead at east end of Burnside Street, made its way westward till it reached High Street, where it was conducted through a tunnel under the road to the other side. It may be of interest to record that the housewives of Lochee took advantage of the burn along its entire length for their household washing. Troughs at the margin were arranged for their use, and open spaces on either side provided ample room for bleaching and drying. In the chart of 1831 few of the lanes that now intersect Lochee are marked. Those that led to the old road are defined, and their extension to the new road was the work of later years.

WHEN LOGIE FEUS WERE LAID OUT.

Logie Feus district, which is now densely inhabited, was originated about 1824, when an extensive triangular piece of ground extending from Union Place (Cobden Street) to the junction of Loons Road with Logie Street (opposite Railway Bridge) was laid out for building purposes, for which it was admirably adapted. In due course it became tenanted, and a number of streets were formed on a well-defined plan. Several small factories were erected, and one of considerable extent belonged to Mr John Gordon, whose premises and residence were purchased after his death by the Trustees of the Rescue Home. Another manufactory of fair size filled the terminal of Loons Road at extreme west. Logie Feus was a busy place for many years, and competed keenly with Lochee in the matter of textile production.

LOCHEE AS A RATEABLE AREA.

Apart from industrial growth, Lochee as a community was not overlooked, though it was long before it shared in the legislative measures which Dundee enjoyed. There were several factors, however, which proved a great benefit generally. These were the enactments of 1831 and 1832 and of 1833. By the first two Acts the "sett" or municipal constitution of the burgh was reconstructed, and the "close " system, which had held sway for so many years, was swept aside for ever. By the last, which was entitled "An Act to alter and amend the laws for the election of the Magistrates and Councils of the Royal Burghs of Scotland," the town was further consolidated. Through these measures the boundaries were extended, and the whole of Lochee was included for Parliamentary and Municipal purposes, the franchise being limited to a £10 rental. Dundee was divided into three Wards, and Lochee formed part of the First. Though Lochee was represented by parties who had no direct personal interest in its affairs, there is no doubt that a good deal was done to improve it. Public opinion, probably not so active as it now is, was applied with sufficient force to compel attention, and the representatives for the time being no doubt did their best to comply with the wishes of the suburban section of their constituents.
The imposition of rates for public improvements in its early stages was attended with a good deal of trouble, which amounted in the long-run to resentment. The levy of rates began in 1848; but as the Corporation was not in possession of compulsory powers, it was difficult to collect them. This was rectified in 1850 when the General Police Act came into operation, Lochee being placed on a level with Dundee as far as assessment went, with the exception of drainage, for which, owing to heavy constructional outlay, a special rate was imposed. This rate was continued from 1853 till 1882, when it was amended, and Lochee and Dundee were equalised in that respect. In 1871 the electoral districts of Dundee were readjusted. This step was made necessary by the increase in population. The three Wards into which it was divided were arranged into nine Wards, of which Lochee constituted the Third. Opportunity at the same time was taken to enlarge the representation from twenty-one to twenty-seven, exclusive of Dean of Guild, three members being allocated to each Ward.

POLICE SUPERVISION-STRAY OFFICER.

Previous to 1850 police surveillance in Lochee was altogether inadequate. In that year the Act already mentioned made effectual provision for regulating the police of towns and populous places in Scotland, and for paving, drainage, cleansing, lighting, and improving the same. The General Police Act, besides, placed in the hands of local authorities powers that would enable them to enforce law and provide greater security for the people. The population heretofore was small, and required little of the supervision demanded in later years. A stray officer, whose round embraced a wide area, intermittently made his appearance, and no doubt discharged his duty according to the regulations then in force. It was not till Lochee was organised into a Special District in 1851 that it was policed with officers of its own. This was due to Mr Donald Mackay, who was Superintendent of Police. Mr Mackay saw the necessity for such a step, and accordingly appointed two officers—one to officiate during daytime and the other at night. No provision, however, was made for detention, and great inconvenience consequently was caused to the officers. When an apprehension was made, the prisoner had to be conveyed to Dundee. No prison van lightened their labours, and as a journey of two miles was involved, the trouble they had to undergo may readily be conceived, especially when their charges proved obstreperous—a contingency that too often arose. An independent station, fitted with accommodation for officers, and equipped with cells for temporary detention, was erected in South Road in 1864. When this was effected the hitherto meagre force was augmented by additional four officers. Since then the staff has been repeatedly increased, and there are now one inspector, four sergeants, and fifteen constables divided between night and day duty.
Simultaneous with a better system of policing a much-needed improvement was made in the department of sanitation. The old unsightly practice of hiring out ashpits to fanners and others, with its nauseating evils, was abolished by civic enactment, and a new method introduced, although it left much to be desired. Within recent years a commendable advance has been made in that direction, with advantage to the community in the matter of cleanliness, and in the promotion of public health.
In 1870 an auxiliary fire brigade was established, and has often proved useful in cases of emergency.

WATER SUPPLY—OLD AND NEW.

A sufficient water supply for long was much desiderated in Lochee. Up till 181J5 the inhabitants had to depend exclusively upon wells, a method attended with grave trouble. Though fulfilling necessary requirements most of the year, in midsummer, with one or two exceptions, these sources became exhausted. There were two popular springs from which the flow of water was perennial. These were known as the East Well and Bog-Well. The former was situated at east end of Burnside Street. The north basement of the bridge which spans the roadway at Camperdown Jute Works rests virtually upon the rock from which issued a never-failing spring. The other well was near Kirk Street, South Road, and supplied the wants of the inhabitants of west end. Most of the feuars provided their own wells. These went under the name of "sunk" or "draw" wells. That is to say, they were excavated to a depth of from fifteen to twenty feet. The interiors were circular, and the walls protected by masonry. The water was raised to the surface by a simple operation. On the one hand a syphon or "pump" apparatus was lowered into the cavity, and the water drawn up by this appliance; and on the other, it was obtained by the hand-overhand method of a rope and pitcher attachment. It was these wells, however, that became exhausted in summer. So numerous were they, and so close to each other, that the supplementary springs were soon spent. When, therefore, epidemics broke out the absence of an element so absolutely essential as water was fraught with baneful results. This was painfully the case when in 1832, '48, '54, and '66, Lochee was assailed by outbreaks of cholera. Even a moderate supply would have done much in the way of purifying plague spots. People, however, were not then alive to the advantages of such a blessing. It was not till 1868 that the Dundee Water Company extended its mains to the suburb. When the system was municipalised in 1869, Lochee participated in the improvements. Districts heretofore untouched were dealt with, and water famines became things of the past.
Reference has been made to the visitation of epidemics. With the view of lessening their effect and preventing their spread, the Local Authority in 1866 erected an isolation hospital within the grounds of Wellburn. The hospital, which was timber-built, was used for several years, and served Dundee and Lochee. In the long run it was felt that it could be utilised to greater advantage nearer the city. Accordingly in 1874 it was removed to King's Cross, where it was employed, even after a modern hospital was built, for the treatment of typhus cases. When a special ward for the reception of patients suffering from that fever was provided in the new hospital, the old structure was burned to the ground by order of the Town Council.

POST OFFICE-ITS ESTABLISHMENT, AND BY WHOM.

Before 1823 our postal facilities were primitive. Letters and communications of all kinds were delivered in a haphazard fashion from the Dundee centre, which was then a very obscure concern indeed. In the foregoing year, through the agency of Mr James Scott, a gentleman to whom reference will repeatedly be made in these pages, the first post office was installed in Lochee. Foreseeing great benefits likely to arise from the introduction of such a project, he set apart a room in his own property on High Street for the work, and became himself the first postmaster. A short while later the office was removed to east corner of Marshall Street, where it remained for several years.
It will readily be understood that the postal system in its earlier stages was slow in its operation. Letters were few in number, and the item of postage was a serious consideration. In the thirties a letter, say, to Newtyle, cost Is Id for transmission, and probably a week elapsed before it was delivered. Despatches were intermittent, missives only being sent off when a sufficient number had accumulated to warrant that being done. There being no regular runner, the landward letters were entrusted to the custody of a common carrier. People unaccustomed to celerity were quite satisfied if they turned up at nil, no matter by whom delivered or how much belated. On the retiral of Mr Scott in 1830, Mr William Craig, his assistant, was appointed. It was in that year that the office was established at Scott's Angle, Marshall Street. Owing to the gradual increase of traffic the deliveries were systematised, beginning with one daily. Ere long this was augmented to two—morning and evening. The suburbs, too, were classified, and relegated to the care of a special messenger. The latter part of the work was regulated by the nature of the arrivals. Retiring in 1835, Mr Craig was succeeded by Mr David Mackay, the office at the same time, being removed to top of High Street. The building was cleared away in 1898 to make room for Ruthven Buildings, During Mr Mackay's term of office considerable developments were effected. A mail gig was employed to carry the mails between the head office in Dundee and Lochee, and the deliveries underwent another change. These were fixed at three per diem, an accession much appreciated by the people, who were now alive to the value of the service. It was through Mr Mackay's representations, too, that another excellent arrangement was introduced. At that time no money-order exchange existed in Lochee, and the want of it was much felt. The discrepancy, however, was rectified in 1858. In the same year Mr John Robertson, the late holder of the office, took Mr Mackay's place, and for over half-a-century that gentleman conducted the business, which has grown enormously, with the utmost satisfaction to all. When Mr Robertson entered upon his duties the office was transferred to the corner of Burnside, upon which the branch of the North of Scotland Bank has since been erected. Subsequently it reverted to the property further along the street where it was first established. A final removal was made in 1873 to the present premises, \ipon which repeated alterations have had to be made. In his official capacity Mr Robertson saw many changes, and no one was held in higher or more deserved esteem. The deliveries when Mr Robertson took office were three per day, and he had one assistant. The deliveries now amount to six. There is a regular staff of eight men, and to overtake morning work there are four assistants. In 1858 a single rural messenger was sufficient. At present three are employed. In October 1910 Birkhill Feus and Muirhead of Liff, which hitherto had only one delivery and one despatch each day, were provided with two—morning and evening—the delivery officer being accommodated with a bicycle to cover his rounds. Mr Robertson, after a long career, died 24th May 1911. He was succeeded by Miss Lizzie S. Nicoll, his granddaughter.
Simultaneous with other parts of the city, Lochee was instituted a registration district in 1855. Besides his postal duties, Mr Robertson filled the office of registrar, to which he succeeded on the death of Mr David Neish, who perished in the Tay Bridge disaster. On Mr Robertson's demise his grandson, Mr John R. Nicoll, was, on 6th July 1911, appointed his successor.